The return of peace and normalcy in Kashmir is a reality. And to ensure a durable and lasting peace, a humane approach to handle the law and order situation may be required. In a vibrant, democratic country, authoritarian ways of suppressing people’s voices prove to be counterproductive. It may be recalled that the law and order situation in Kashmir worsened in the aftermath of unfair and rigged assembly elections of 1987,...

Private school admissions may soon see a sweeping change if the government has its way after notifying rules under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act. While the government plans to ensure 25% reservation for underprivileged children by assigning officials to closely monitor the admission process in all schools, including unaided private institutions, a proposal to impose a firstcome-first-served rule may do away with preferential admissions...

India has achieved close to universal enrolment. The small proportion of children who are still out of school, the hardest to reach, will be pulled in by the efforts emanating from the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Now we must focus on the next challenge, a massive and less visible one, that of ensuring that every child gets an effective education of good quality. Schools must give children a real...

-The United Nations   The global demand for secondary education has risen exponentially, says a new United Nations report, which adds that governments, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, are having a hard time keeping up and many children are being left out. The 2011 Global Education Digest, released today by the Institute for Statistics of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), says there are only enough seats for 36 per cent of...

-The Hindu   Consumer Protection Act exists since 1986 In the 25th year of enactment of the Consumer Protection Act (COPRA), 1986, in the country, a majority of the population in Rajasthan has not even heard about the law, not to speak of making use of its provisions to protect their rights as consumers. A recent field research survey indicated that 63 per cent of the people in the State have not heard of...